Hi, I have a couple of Life Like engines I want to repaint and use as dummy units, but the problem with them is the wheel flanges are way too deep to run on Code 83 track. I ordered some Athearn dummy wheels but I’m not sure they will fit. What wheels can I replace them with?
Thanks!
Rob
I doint think there are any replacements for the “pizza cutters” on the older life like units.
Are you sure the wheels are going to be a problem? I thought I would have an issue when I started building Phase 2 of my layout, switching from code 100 to code 83. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my old pizza cutters ran just fine. I had an issue with an IHC Mikado, whose drivers could have slice a large pepperoni with extra cheese, but it turned out to be a faulty turnout, and after I fixed it I had no more flange problems.
Like putting mags on a Yugo
I’m not aware of any direct replacements, but you could run the flanges on a Dremel grinding stone and take them down a bit, using a NMRA gauge as a template for size and contour.
Not having access to a dremel, that one is not an option. (they used to have one at school, but I haven’t been a student in years!) It’s not so much a problem of operation, but a problem of sounding like it’s derailed all the time from running over the spikes in the ties.
Rob
A guy walks into the auto parts store and said “I need a gas cap for my Yugo.”
The guy behind the counter thinks for a minute and says “Okay, deal.”
How do you double the value of a Yugo?
Fill it with gas.
How can a Yugo go 55 MPH?
Push it off a cliff.
John
They are surprisingly affordable. After hearing people here talk about all the things they did with them, I went out and bought one. It’s the only tool that is permanently plugged in on my workbench, because I use it all the time. You’ll end up using it for non-train stuff, too, once you’ve got it.
Yeah. A Dremel is that good.
If you have a drill, you might be able to chuck in one end of the axle then use sand paper on the other flange.
True story:
A number of years back, my office mate had a Yugo. He loved the car. He grew up in the former Soviet Union, and saw it as an example of success from a former Iron Curtain country, I guess. Anyway, one day he didn’t get in to work until almost lunchtime. I asked him why he was late.
He’d gone out to the parking lot that morning, unlocked the car, and the door fell off.
And you know, he still loved that car.
I’ve worked on several of those old LifeLike locomotives and have even installed DCC decoders into some of them for new club members who have nothing better. I know of no replacement wheels.
Back to the original question. (Sorry for the diversions.)
Why wouldn’t the wheels fit? You may need to fabricate different axles, and the point bearings at the ends of the stub axles on the wheels might not match the recesses in the trucks, but a bit of grinding should fix that.
There are actually no points on the ends of the axles. The load bearing is accomplised at the center of the axle with two shaped pincers the axles snap into. I think the Athearn ones might be the same basic design? I’m not sure how to explain it better so maybe will take a picture later. That’s why I ordered the Athearn axles in the off-chance they fit. But you are probably right that they won’t. Or worse just fall right out!
Rob
The old LifeLike and Modelpower had virtually the identical drives except for the wheel flanges, while the ones with the smaller flanges are are a little larger than RP-25 (Athearn) they are much smaller than the ones you have, and they are interchangable as far as the trucks go. The Athearns are way to small and will fall right out and the loco would ride too low as well. PM me your address and I’ll send you a set (4) wheel sets, I found a bunch in a parts bin I won’t ever be using.
You might be better off junking the chassis’s and keeping the shell’s and replacing with something else all together to get what you need.
Do they still run? If so you don’t need a Dremel. Hook up power to spin the wheelsets and file the flanges down. Since you plan on converting them into dummies then getting metal shavings into te motor or gearboxes isn’t much of a concern. I’d use a cheap/throwaway powerpack incase of a short.
Hey ! Hey ! C’mon now Sparky, I own an older Lifelike KCS E-9, it’s one of my favorite engines, (the only diesely thing I own) very powerful, highly detailed (opening doors etc.) scale handrails, and looks great, one of the few EMD locos that look like the real thing, it runs like a dream but I’m missing the coupler plate at the front.